Building for God by Steven Gaines

Jul 29

Written by: CampUs4
7/29/2010 8:37 AM

Building for God

by Steven Tramel Gaines

God uses people in amazing ways.

I recently traveled with a small group of students to San Diego, where we joined approximately 100 other people from 11 states. We caravanned southward into Mexico and spent about a week building five houses for people who had been homeless or living in shacks that we would not even consider houses.

Mexico Group

I won’t take your time with many trip details here, but let me offer six reflections that might resonate with your experiences or motivate you to further participation in God’s global ministry.

First, God cares about humans’ basic needs. Maslow famously said that shelter is one of our most basic needs, and that it is a necessary prerequisite to achieving higher needs. The Bible repeatedly gives voice to God’s concern for the poor (examples: Psalm 140:12; Isaiah 25:4, 41:17; Luke 6: 20-21). We can define poverty in many ways, but I think we can agree on two facts: (1) that people without adequate housing qualify as poor and (2) that two or three pieces of plywood leaned against each other and covered with a tarp do not qualify as adequate housing. God cares about people who live in poverty and calls Christians to help.

Second, the message of salvation in Christ includes social issues. Jesus taught people about the kingdom of God, while also demonstrating that kingdom through healing and feeding. Kent Massey of Charlotte, NC, spoke here on July 21 in our summer guest speaker series. He emphasized that, while the gospel is more than a “social gospel,” it includes social implications. He also stated that non-Christians today need to see what difference Christianity makes in society. Although some Christians disregard service-oriented mission trips in favor of teaching-oriented endeavors, helping the poor—in other cultures and at home—is a way to obey biblical imperatives, to follow scriptural examples, and to testify to the difference-making truth of Christ’s compassion.

Third, people in various cultures worship God through different languages and forms. Wednesday night of our week in Mexico demonstrated this beautiful fact. We sang in both Spanish and English. The opening prayer was in English, and the preacher spoke Spanish. Danny Vaden from Clemson, SC, addressed the congregation in Spanish. Citizens of Mexico and the USA joined in a fellowship dinner, and people who did not know enough English to greet me shook my hand and smiled. I replied in broken Spanish that communicated far less than my simple presence did.

Fourth, serving is not easy. The work hours were long, tiring, hot, and dirty. I felt inadequate, as I knew almost nothing about construction. I became frustrated many times, for that happens when several strangers work together for extended periods of time. I relearned patience and flexibility, slowly accepting that I did not need to be in control of every situation and every decision.

House Frame

Fifth, God can establish relationships across cultural and linguistic barriers. My students and I could barely talk with the family for whom we built a house, but we befriended them and now appreciate our status as sibling in faith. The house dedication ceremony on Friday was a moving and meaningful display of God’s love and of our mutual standing as God’s children.

Finally, ministry doesn’t always happen in the ways we plan. Due to some closed-down security checkpoints, we inched along at a snail’s pace through the longest airport security line I had ever seen. (I had experience countless airports throughout the world.) Because of that delay, we missed our initial flight by three minutes. We took a later flight and spent the first night in the Dallas area instead of San Diego as planned. The students were patient and open for adventure, and I thank God for that! We arrived in San Diego the next day in time to meet the other groups, and I learned again that God can use ministry efforts in transformative ways even when they don’t happen according to my plans.

If you have never experienced God at work in another culture, I encourage you to do so. The adventure will be much more than a vacation; it might even be hard work! However, it will open your eyes to portions of God’s reality that can change your life.

If you have benefited from mission trips, please share with us. What did your travels teach you about God, people, and the world? What difficulties arose, and how did you handle them?

Steven Tramel Gaines leads OASIS Campus Ministry, the multi-campus outreach of Central Church of Christ in Spartanburg, SC. He also serves as associate editor of Campus CrossWalk, and you can communicate with him via the contacts page of this website.